“KamalaHQ’s” X banner is a simple fluorescent green background with the presidential account’s name, “kamala hq,” in all lowercase. To an outsider, this banner may seem like an odd choice for a campaign’s marketing, but the current Vice President’s team is playing into a new demographic of voters: GenZ.
Appealing to this younger generation’s heightened awareness of current events and politics is crucial for each campaign. In addition, social media’s extreme popularity with the group provides the perfect medium to spark their interest and hopefully gain their votes.
With the high stakes 2024 presidential matchup between Former President Donald Trump and current VP Kamala Haris fast approaching, the campaigns are employing all their resources to appeal to this new generation of voters and emerge victorious in November.
After President Joe Biden forfeited the Democratic nomination in July, Harris became the nominee. According to Forbes, since then Harris’ campaign says it has raised over $500 million, almost double the funds her opponent has raised. In part, this is due to her online popularity and innovative marketing strategies.
Harris has been particularly aggressive in her marketing towards Generation Z, specifically through the official “KamalaHQ” account on various social media platforms, most notably TikTok and X. Surprisingly, the release of Charli XCX’s newest album “brat” has been a major component of Harris’ marketing strategy, used to appeal to the younger side of America and providing the inspiration for the, now famous, X banner. However this is just one of the ways KamalaHQ is utilizing TikTok trends to engage Gen Z.
The account is littered with pop culture references, trending videos, comedy and edits of the VP typically used for fictional characters.
Those in charge of the account are known for listening to the buzz on the outskirts of the internet and centralizing them in an effort to advertise Harris.
For example, the account has posted multiple videos with the viral sound of Harris saying “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” which took the internet by storm at the start of her campaign.
Another instance is the account’s use of “Feminomon” by Chappel Roan to propose that America needed a “feminomon” in the form of Kamala.
The Tik Tok account has gained 4.2 million followers and over 121.1 million likes.
Mamaroneck High School junior Isla Dapkins (’26) believes this marketing approach is “very smart,” as it will likely attract new and younger voters who are typically “overlooked” by political campaigns.
As a member of GenZ, Dapkins believes that Harris’ campaign is so effective in garnering support from young voters because it “focuses more on the future of America,” contrasting Trump’s emphasis on returning to traditional American values.
The campaign’s social media presence is not the sole method Harris’ campaign is using to appeal to young people.
The August Democratic National Convention featured performances by several big-name celebrities such as Megan Thee Stallion, P!nk, and Lil Jon sparking online discourse and interest. Past national conventions as a whole have not utilized pop culture in this way.
Donald Trump and the Republican party have taken an extremely different approach to his campaign methods.
Unlike Harris, he has gone for a more “old school” way of advertising. Although this has kept older voters intrigued and maybe helped get them on his side, he seems to put less thought into the way Gen Z views his campaign, using platforms like Truth Social that appeal to an older audience.
In this election, four years of new voters will be going to the polls, and that could change the way they might lean. According to NBC News, “Harris is backed by 60% of young voters who say they’re almost certain that they will cast a ballot in the presidential election. That figure pulls in line with the 60% of 18- to 29-year-olds won by Joe Biden in the 2020 election against Trump, according to NBC News exit poll results.”
Although Kamala’s use of TikTok and popular memes has been useful for her campaign, many forget that most Generation X and older individuals are not on TikTok.
When asked “How are older generations reacting to Kamala’s appeal to Gen Z?” MHS Global History teacher Peter Greene says that “they aren’t even aware of it,” citing his 69-year-old mother who “doesn’t even know what TikTok is.”
He contiunes to state that “Facebook” is where older people are and the platform is “mostly right-wing dominated.”
Greene also believes the use of social media has made it more engaging for younger generations because politicians “use clips and try to make them go viral.” This has allowed social media users to view the main ideas of a debate or convention online and not have to watch the whole thing.
Although Harris’ unique approach to draw in a younger audience seems to be very effective on social media, it is important to acknowledge that her guerrilla marketing will not work on everyone.
Based on the past several elections, this year’s will likely be very close, and each party will have to work hard to pull in the majority of America’s vote, which includes GenZ.
